


A Happy Place

by NoisyNoiverns



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-12 13:57:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5668501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoisyNoiverns/pseuds/NoisyNoiverns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The middle of FTL flight doesn't lend itself well to a lot of activity. Nihlus plays video games, Saren reads, and they're at peace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Happy Place

Nihlus yawned and scratched at the joint of his mandible, careful not to jostle Saren. It was almost surreal, how peaceful the room was: He was lying on his stomach on his bed, playing _Galaxy of Fantasy_ ; Saren was lying half-on top of him, reading from a datapad with the backlight dimmed so it wouldn’t hurt his eyes; the only sounds in the entire ship were the humming of the engines and the sounds of battle from Nihlus’s video game. There weren’t any beeping comms, or unfinished paperwork, or disassembled weapons and armor waiting to be cleaned. Just the two of them and the lazy lull of FTL flight.

He wondered what his mother would think.

Something rude, probably.

On top of him, Saren shifted, curling in on himself slightly and turning so his head rested against the back of Nihlus’s cowl. Nihlus felt a weight settle on his side, pressing until Nihlus could tell Saren had spread his hand flat against his waist. He grunted and paused the game, turning to try and get a look at Saren. “Your hands are freezing, you know.”

“Yes,” Saren said simply, not picking his head up or moving the offending hand.

Nihlus snorted softly. “If you’re cold, there’s extra blankets in the closet.”

“I’m fine, Nihlus.”

He waited for a bit, then shrugged and turned back to his game. “Suit yourself.”

They lapsed into silence again, now with the added, not altogether unpleasant sensation of Saren’s mandible rising and falling rhythmically against Nihlus’s cowl as he breathed. This was Nihlus’s favorite part of missions, if he was honest with himself. In the amicable quiet, it was easy to forget the chaos of their work off the ship.

After a while, Nihlus reached a stone door in the game, which, when he interacted with it, posed a question meant to see if he’d done as much talking to NPCs as he should have.

Which he most certainly hadn’t.

He groaned and put his head down. “Saren, can you do me a favor?”

Saren gave a vaguely curious grunt, and Nihlus decided to take that as a _“But of course, Nihlus, I would love to help,”_ even though it was probably more like an _“I’d rather not, but I’d feel bad if I said as much and you got upset.”_

He fluttered his mandibles and turned to try and look at him again. “I need you to look up the Balthanagor the Unknowable questline in the Gates of Mandalaul DLC pack. This door just asked what ol’ Balthy’s ‘happy place’ is.”

“I don’t know what half of the words you just said mean, but fine.” Nihlus heard a series of cheerful chirps as Saren pulled up his omni-tool. Then a pause, then Saren asked, “If this character is supposedly unknowable, how does the door know anything about them, much less you?”

Nihlus sighed patiently. “Balthanagor the Unknowable is one of nine guardians of the Gates of Mandalaul, which you have to unlock in order to encounter Miirta’ken the Vault-dweller and duel her for her treasure. In order to receive the key Balthanagor holds, you have to know the unknowable and uncover all his secrets.”

Saren was quiet for a long moment. Then he simply said, “Of all the bizarre, incomprehensible things you’ve said to me over the years, that just topped the list.”

Nihlus groaned. “Get-rich-quick scheme.”

“That’s much better.” Saren’s omni-tool beeped quietly as he typed, then he added, “The answer is ‘nowhere; Balthanagor the Unknowable feels nothing but overwhelming despair.’”

“You’re kidding,” Nihlus said, subvocals ringing with disbelief even as he selected the answer anyway. The door opened, and his mandibles dropped. “You _weren’t_ kidding. _Seriously?_ Ancient being said to be totally omniscient and clairvoyant, and his trivia answers read like _middle school emo poetry_ …”

Saren snorted softly and moved again, curling in even further and tucking his head on the spot where Nihlus’s cowl met his shoulder. Nihlus shifted to accommodate, and slowly reached for the remote to turn the vidscreen volume down. “Tired?”

Saren only grunted at him, and he hummed softly, taking a moment to revel in the trust Saren was displaying- only a few years ago, Saren wouldn’t have _dared_ let Nihlus even know he was asleep, much less sleep touching him. After all, sleep was an easily-exploitable vulnerability, and thus an unwanted yet unavoidable danger in Saren’s world. They’d been sharing a room for over a year now, and the thought of it still set his heart aflutter.

Listening to Saren’s breathing, a thought struck Nihlus, and he moved his mandibles in and out thoughtfully. “Hey, Saren?” he asked softly. He had a narrow window to take advantage of for conversation. Once Saren decided it was time for sleep, he went down bizarrely fast.

Saren made a very soft sound of acknowledgement, and he pressed on. “What’s your ‘happy place’?”

Saren was quiet, and for a moment Nihlus thought he’d missed his window and the older turian was already asleep. Then Saren shifted, and Nihlus turned his head in time to be met with nasal plates brushing against the side of his head. “Here,” Saren breathed, and as he moved back to his previous position and settled back down to sleep, Nihlus thought he might have felt his heart melt.


End file.
